Absurd trade proposal involving Leafs' William Nylander immediately draws the ire of Leafs Nation

What's a Maple Leafs regular season without trade rumours and chatter surrounding William Nylander?

It seems as though each and every year, someone in the Toronto media or a sizeable contingent within the Maple Leafs' fan base concocts some scheme to get rid of Nylander, and usually, the return is puzzling in the worst of ways.

This season, the worst hypothetical trade proposal belongs to Insider Nick Kypreos, who suggested this week that the Leafs should send William Nylander to Seattle for offensive defenseman Brandon Montour and hulking defensive defenseman Jamie Oleksiak.

There are a number of issues to discuss here, the first of which being why on earth would Nylander agree to waive his no movement clause to go to Seattle? He has spent his entire NHL career in Toronto, loves the city, and has the perfect personality to thrive in such a volatile environment.

Second, the Leafs have been searching for an upgrade in the top six for much of the season, so subtracting Nylander from this group would be completely counterproductive to what they're looking to achieve with the top of the roster.

Lastly, trading Nylander for a 31-year-old defenseman who is signed for six more seasons after this one at $7.14M per season and has just one particularly strong statistical season (73 points in 80 games in 2022-23), and a 33-year-old defensive defenseman in Oleksiak is a good way to get fired if you're Brad Treliving. The value balance just is not there.

Nylander is also leading the Maple Leafs in points through the midway point of the season, playing less games than most of his direct competitors on the team. The 29-year-old star has 41 points in 33 games thus far, and may have landed in the top-5 in points across the NHL if he wasn't injured at two different occasions this season.

I'm not quite sure what Kypreos was thinking with this one, but I'm certain that you're not going to find to many level-headed fans who are going to agree with this take from the Real Kyper & Bourne host.

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